Holding On
by fanatic.freak
Summary: Lu helps her patient with a very difficult situation, but she soon learns that she has more to deal with..
1. Fallen

I do not own the main characters (Lu, Marc, Lana, Peter, Andy, Nick and Robert) in this story, they belong to Lifetime. I also sometimes mix the original storyline with my own.  
  
Chapter 1: Fallen  
  
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"Vanessa Standford?" Lu yelled as she ran into the ER. The paramedic next to her looked up and pointed at dr. Nick Biancavilla. "Nick!" As fast as she could, Lu made her way to her patient. "What happened?"  
  
"Boyfriend found her unconscious at the bottom of the stairs in her mother's house. She must've fallen off." Nick replied.  
  
"Alright, I want a CT, MRI, an X-ray on her arm and shoulder, call neuro.. and get me a suture kit for these." Lu said, referring to the open wounds on Vanessa's forehead and left shoulder. She started cleaning the wounds carefully. "I need more pads, I can't see anything here." The wound on her shoulder seemed like a deep cut, but the big amount of blood made it impossible for Lu to determine.  
  
"Is she gonna be okay?"  
  
Lu looked over her shoulder. A young man stood closely behind her. His shirt hung untucked over his damaged jeans. He held a baseball cap in one hand, and ran the other through his messy, light brown hair. Lu noticed a lack of concern in his voice as well as his face.  
  
"I'm Zach, her boyfriend. Will she be all right?"  
  
"She'll be fine, don't worry. The fall may have caused a concussion or a broken arm, but nothing that can't heal. I'll tell you what though, why don't you wait down the hall and let us work here okay? I'll get back to you when we're done."  
  
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Lu sat back and closed her eyes, thinking about her day so far. Chat room was about interruption and how it can cause things like stress, and ironically enough they were interrupted by Lu's pager a couple of minutes before the end. A diabetic patient of hers had accidentally mismanaged her insuline and went into insuline shock. About an hour later, another patient arrived in the ER - Vanessa. Fallen down the stairs in her mom's house, found by her boyfriend, who had mysteriously disappeared when Lu wanted to tell him how Vanessa was doing.  
  
She checked her watch. 1 PM. She knew that her next patient wouldn't be here until 1.30, so she figured she'd better get herself something to eat. But just as she walked out of her office, the other door of the office opened. Lu took a few steps back to see who it was.  
  
"Lu?"  
  
"Oh hey Peter." Lu said. "What's up?"  
  
"Got the test results of a patient of yours, Vanessa Stanford." Peter handed the results to Lu.  
  
"Good, thanks."  
  
While Peter walked out, Lu quickly looked them over. A slight concussion. No fractures. MRI and CT, clear. None of the tests they ran incidated anythng that could've caused the fall. No extreme temperatures in this grey weather. If she tripped over something, she probably wouldn't have lost consciousness or have wounds that are this severe. The only thing left to do was ask Vanessa if she remembered what happened. Lu decided to check in on her after having lunch. She walked out of her office and headed for the cafetaria.  
  
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Lu noticed that Zack had reappeared. He was sitting next to Vanessa and held her hand while Lu came in the hospital room.  
  
"Hey Vanessa. How are you feeling?"  
  
"My shoulder hurts a little.. and I have a headache.." Vanessa replied in a soft voice as Lu sat down.  
  
"I'll have the nurse give you something for the pain. You have a slight concussion as a result from your fall, which explains your headache. Your shoulder got quite a blow, but you didn't break anything."  
  
"When can she come home?" Zach asked.  
  
"There's no reason I can discharge her today." Lu turned to Vanessa again. "But you'll need to rest for a week, you wouldn't wanna be on your feet if you want the concussion to be over with. And as for your arm, you shouldn't use it too much for the next four weeks, maybe wear a sling if you need one. And you'd have to come back to have the stitches taken out in a couple of days."  
  
"Okay." Vanessa said. Zach let go of her hand and stood up, looking down on Lu.  
  
"I gotta ask you something though," Lu started. "How did it happen?"  
  
"What do you mean, Lu?"  
  
"Do you remember why you fell?"  
  
"I.. I don't know. I guess I tripped over something." Vanessa replied.  
  
Lu sighed. "I don't think you would end up with such wounds and loss of consciousness if you just tripped and fell." She paused. Zach started pacing around the room. Vanessa kept her eyes fixed on him, which made Lu doubt Vanessa's attention to what she was saying. "We ran a couple of tests, but none of them show any condition that could have caused you to collapse."  
  
"I don't know.. I guess I was just tired."  
  
"Maybe.."  
  
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"Hi Lana!"  
  
Lana didn't quite expect to hear that voice at the RWHC. "Marc? Hey kid.. aren't you supposed to be at your dad's place on Wednesday?"  
  
"Yeah, I know. But I forgot my bag, and honestly I don't wanna come back for it tomorrow at 6 AM." Marc replied.  
  
"You forgot your.." Lu didn't even finish her sentence. She stood in the entrance of her office, holding in a laugh. "I didn't even notice it was still here."  
  
"Well, neither did I when I left it earlier," Marc said as if he had no clue about the presence of his sense of humor. He put his hands in his pockets and walked past Lana, towards the office. "But once I wanted to check whether I had packed everything for the trip to..." Marc now stood really close to Lu and softly spoke the words in her ear, ".. South Beach"  
  
"Stop it Marc!" Lu interrupted her son, being forced to admit her smile caused by Marc's so called attempt at joking. "It's already frustrating enough that Bill can go to Florida and I can't, let alone being reminded all the time that he's taking you with him!" Even though that meant she had almost a week to spend together with Mickey. While Marc walked into Lu's office to get his bag, Lu walked up to Lana.  
  
"So.. what's up, gorgeous?" Lana said as she got back to her computer.  
  
"I was wondering if you knew where Vanessa Stanford's chart is, cause I can't find it. I've looked under 'S', under 'V' but it's not there. I wanna discharge her today and--"  
  
"It's right there." Lana pointed at a small pile of files at their right, without even looking up.  
  
"Lana..." Lu moaned ironically as she grabbed Vanessa's chart. "You oughtta start filing those things.." Lana looked up and gave Lu a look that made everything clear. 'Filing' and 'Lana' just don't match.  
  
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	2. Attached

I do not own the main characters (Lu, Marc, Lana, Peter, Andy, Nick and Robert) in this story, they belong to Lifetime. I also sometimes mix the original storyline with my own.  
  
Chapter 2: Attached  
  
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Almost a week later, the weather forecast went from grey to less cold and sunny, which gave everyone in the RWHC some extra positive energy. Lu came out of her office. "Hey Lana, who's next?"  
  
"10.30, Stanford," Lana replied after checking Lu's busy schedule.  
  
"Okay.." Lu searched for a familiar face in the waiting room, but there was no sign of Vanessa yet. No wonder, she thought. It ain't 10.30 yet, either.  
  
"Hi mom, Lana," Marc said, entering the clinic. After a few days on South Beach he definately got a tan. Combined with the summer blouse and his fancy sunglasses, he looked as though he had just been picked of a Hawaii holiday commercial.  
  
"Looks like someone here enjoyed the beach, kid!" Lana said delightfully.  
  
"Looks more like he thinks he's still there if ya ask me," Lu joked, but the smile upon her face quickly disappeared. "Marc, what's that on your arm?" Upon closer look, she discovered it was a pretty bad bruise on Marc's upper arm.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing mom, some guy and his surfboard kinda ran into me." Marc said quickly.  
  
"So you really enjoyed the beach, huh" Lana said, trying to keep the positive spirit up.  
  
"Yeah, it was great, lots of sunshine and all." Marc smiled sheepishly.  
  
"Sunshine? That's all?" Lu teased. She knew for sure it wasn't, she was just trying to find out why he had that funny grin on his face.  
  
"Oh man, I guess I'll have to tell you guys eventually." Marc hesitated though. A slight blush appeared on his face. "I met a girl, Natalie." Lu and Lana both smiled at Marc. They were surprisingly silent, but then again, of course they wanted to hear all about it. Marc could easily tell by the looks on their faces. "Okay, remember Erin?"  
  
"The neat blonde girl?" Lana asked.  
  
"Yup, that's her.." Lu said as she felt the same sense of reluctance returning, even though things with Erin worked okay at the end. "Is she like her?"  
  
Marc grinned, because he knew Lu didn't really like Erin. "Actually she's almost the opposite. Even just by looks. You know how Erin always looked perfect, always neat and shiny. Natalie looks kinda alternative. She wears what she likes, not what the trend is. And she's really funny. And.." Marc turned to Lu, ".. she's not rich."  
  
Lu opened up her mouth to comment on that, but at that moment she saw Vanessa walking in. "Lucky you, saved by the bell.. or at least, my next patient. Gotta get back to work now." Lu stood up from her seat, leaving Marc and Lana chatting and joking on.  
  
"Vanessa? You can come with me." She took her into exam 1. "Hop up! How are you doing?" Lu asked. She noticed that Vanessa avoided making eye contact, she was continuously staring at the ground.  
  
"Better. The headaches aren't as bad as they were after you discharged me."  
  
"That's good. And your shoulder?" Lu asked while preparing the suture removal kit.  
  
"It hurts when I lift my arm. The sling was a good idea, I use it a lot."  
  
"Good."  
  
After a short silence, Vanessa decided to tell Lu what was bothering her. She looked up. "Lu?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Vanessa waited until she had Lu's attention. "I'm almost 3 weeks late," she said quietly, as if she didn't want to hear the words.  
  
"So.. you want me to do a pregnancy test on you?"  
  
"Yeah." Vanessa felt relieved, yet scared. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to know the outcome.  
  
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Later that week, Lu was just finished with her patients for the day when suddenly Marc came into the clinic, supporting a girl that apparently had trouble to walk.  
  
"Mom, Natalie ell at dance rehearsal and she can't stand on her right foot." Marc explained. Lu reacted immediately and helped Natalie into the exam room.  
  
"I'm fine Miss Delgado, it's nothing.." Natalie started.  
  
"I think it is. And I also think you can call me Lu. Look, it's all swollen and turning blue. Looks like you seriously sprained your ankle." Lu grabbed a bag of ice out of a cooling box. "Here, put this on it."  
  
"Thanks." Natalie carefully held the cold bag to her ankle.  
  
"Can you explain what happened?" Lu asked.  
  
"Well, I was dancing, and at one point we had to turn and slide. But it went really crazy and I ended up sliding to the floor before I even finished my turn."  
  
"Was there any sudden pressure on your ankle during that move, like landing from a jump?"  
  
"Not really. I was lucky Marc was there and the teacher offered me a ride, otherwise I wouldn't be here. I told her to go back though, because I wouldn't wanna be the reason for the other girls to miss the second hour," Natalie said, still holding the ice bag.  
  
"Okay," Lu said, "from what I just heard I assume you didn't break anything, but I wanna take you up to x-ray to make sure, alright?"  
  
"That's fine," Natalie replied. Lu could easily see that Natalie didn't mean to cause any trouble.  
  
"How long until I can dance again?" Natalie asked. She didn't wanna know, but she had to.  
  
"4 weeks, if it's broken it would be 6 with a little practice," Lu answered with an obvious tone of sympathy in her voice. She knew how hard it was if you have to give up one of your hobbies for a while because of something like this.  
  
"Don't worry, you'll be back at the top in no time." Marc added, trying to comfort her. Natalie wiped the hair out of her face and sighed at the thought of not being able to dance all that time.  
  
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	3. Girls

I do not own the main characters (Lu, Marc, Lana, Peter, Andy, Nick and Robert) in this story, they belong to Lifetime. I also sometimes mix the original storyline with my own.  
  
Chapter 3: Girls  
  
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It had been a little over 3 months since Vanessa came in for her pregnancy test. She was indeed pregnant. Almost 18 weeks now. Vanessa was only 17, so she had no clue what to do, or even how to react. Lu had told her about herself when she was 16 and got pregnant of Marc. It took a while to sink in, then all she could worry about is school; after all, Lu had always wanted to become a doctor. But later, after a lot of good thinking and talking to Isabel, she dropped out of school. Aware, but without fear, of the consequences. She wanted the next problem to be done five minutes ago, so she'd be past it. Telling Bill. They were already at the point of breaking up, ending the little relationship they had. Lu knew she had to say it but she was so afraid that she kept putting it off until maybe the next chance. Until her doctor interfered. She knew Lu's problem. So she simply invited Bill to Lu's appointment without telling, and forced Lu to tell Bill the reason.. why she was going to have that ultrasound she came in for. Luckily, Bill's reaction wasn't half as bad as Lu had feared, though after a while he decided not to stay with Lu. She kind of expected that. But seeing how he came from a rich family, he did financially support her.  
  
In Vanessa's case, the situation was better. Zach seemed very supportive, and according to what Vanessa told Lu he was happy to be involved and to become a father. Lu knew Marc had a father who loved him, too. And even though he's not in a relationship with Lu, it's still better than no father at all.  
  
Lu also remembered the night Marc was born. It was so hectic. Everything went really fast. Because she was so young, the birth of her son went faster than average, but definately not less painful - on the contrary. She could vividly remember the moment she woke up. The pain she felt in her stomach and lower back. How Bill wouldn't pick up the phone. She ended up calling 911 when her water broke. Before the afternoon, little Marc was born. Numerous attempts of reaching Bill that day didn't lead to his presence at Marc's birth. It wasn't until early in the evening when Bill finally walked into the hospital. Lu got so mad. She needed someone. Yelling, bleeding, crying, screaming, through all the pain. And he just walks in like nothing happened. She couldn't take that. But later that night he tried to make up to her. She can't help but to wonder what would've happened without the sight of little Marc peacefully sleeping next to Lu's bed..  
  
Lu was suddenly forced back into the real world by the sound of Lana entering her office.  
  
"Lu, Vanessa Stanford is here for her ultrasound."  
  
"Okay, thanks. I'm coming." Lu got up and followed Lana out of her office.  
  
"Hi Lu!" Vanessa said. She seemed a lot happier than when she first heard about her pregnancy.   
  
"Hey Vanessa, how are you doing? Oh look at that, you're starting to show!"  
  
"Yeah huh. Right now it seems like I'm just eating too much junk food." Vanessa replied.  
  
"Aww.. well, you won't be saying that anymore in a couple of weeks!" Lu laughed. "You can come with me."  
  
They walked into exam 1. While Vanessa lay down, Lu prepared the equipment and turned on the monitor. They watched in silence until after a little while the heartbeat was found.  
  
"There we go... look, that shape there is the baby's head. And that's the spine there, and there you can see its heart beating. See?" Lu explained.  
  
Vanessa watched the monitor with a happy feeling inside, and nodded at what Lu said.  
  
"Wanna know if it's a boy or a girl?" Lu asked.  
  
"Yeah. Zach and I talked about that, we figured it would be best if we know, so we can, you know, prepare and all." Vanessa said, without any trace of doubt in her voice.  
  
"Okay then," Lu said as she carefully searched for the right view. She smiled. "It's a girl!"   
  
Vanessa seemed overwhelmed, yet at ease. "Wow.."  
  
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On that sunny Saturday in November, lots of people were sitting outside, even though the sun didn't calm the cold wind or raise the temperatures. Only people's moods, so it seemed. Streets, playgrounds and terrasses were crowded.  
  
Marc and Natalie shared a table at a nice little restaurant near Rittenhouse, enjoying their lunch. Natalie's sprained ankle had fully healed, and she got back to dancing twice a week.   
  
"You know, I loved it when Dylan took that LL Cool J mask off saying 'Damn, I hate to fly!' and you saw that other guy in the boat screaming like crazy!" Marc said, laughing.  
  
"Yeah, I know! I just stick to what I said earlier, I love the whole movie. I'm just a big Charlie's Angels fan. The original series are also funny to watch. Funny thing is, seeing how my name is also Natalie, she is my favorite Angel."  
  
"Have you seen Full Throttle yet?" Marc asked her. He was secretly hoping she'd say no.  
  
"Not yet," Natalie answered, "but I'm going to soon with a few friends. Oh, ya know what movie I also really really want to see? Beyond Borders." Natalie told him without waiting for his guess.  
  
"I heard about that movie, it's with Angelina Jolie right?" Marc asked in reply.  
  
"Yeah. The story just seems so beautiful, and touching, and I know she had similar experiences in her real life."  
  
"Wanna go check it out with me sometime?" The words came out so quickly that Marc almost didn't realize that he actually just asked Natalie out on a date. His face turned slightly red as many thoughts ran through his mind. What if she'd say no? What if she'd think he was ridiculous? What if..  
  
"Sure." Natalie's reply interrupted Marc's worries. She smiled. Marc didn't know what to say.  
  
"Would this week work for you? How about Friday?" Nat asked.  
  
"Um, I'm going to throw someone a party on Friday for, you know, one of those people who never celebrate their birthday but really deserve a party." Marc still felt the blush on his face. "What about Sunday?"  
  
"Sunday I have my own birthday party, that's when I'm gonna watch Full Throttle. I could invite you.. but I doubt you'll like sitting in between a bunch of giggling girls!" One look upon Marc's face made clear she was right. She couldn't help smiling at him all the time. "Anyway.. how about the Thursday after?"  
  
"That would work for me." Marc said. He smiled back at Natalie, watching her play with her long dark hair. He placed his hand on Natalie's. She looked straight into Marc's eyes, and felt that something really clicked between them. Neither of them had ever felt this way before, but they knew the feeling was mutual. No more words were needed.  
  
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"Honey, I'm hoooome!" Lu said with sarcasm as she walked into her apartment and softly closed the door behind her back. She got home earlier than on a usual Friday. "Marc?" The room was dark, and quiet. Too quiet.   
  
Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She almost jumped out of her skin and turned around.  
  
"Hi mom!"  
  
"Why did you have to scare me like that in the dark?" Upon closer look, she noticed Marc was wearing his finest clothes. "And why are you dressed up like--" Lu didn't finish her sentence because lights started flashing behind her. "What--"  
  
"SURPRISE!!" 


	4. Chester

I do not own the main characters (Lu, Marc, Lana, Peter, Andy, Nick and Robert) in this story, they belong to Lifetime. I also sometimes mix the original storyline with my own.  
  
Chapter 4: Chester  
  
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She turned to the room and saw Peter, Andy, Lana, Bob, Nick and Mickey standing there in the decorated living room. Lana was holding a huge chocolate cake. Lu was speechless.   
  
Mickey stepped forward and gave her a kiss. "Happy birthday Lu!"  
  
"Oh my god.." It's all that came out of Lu's mouth. Which is a big deal for her - normally she always knows what she wants to say. And everyone knows that, too.  
  
"You can say that again, Lu."  
  
Lu recognized the voice, but refused to believe it - even when everyone stepped aside and revealed Dana actually standing behind them, with little Annie pretty much attached to her leg. "Oh my god!" She just realized she really did say it again, and laughed, along with the rest. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm doing good, thank you!" Dana answered.  
  
"You look great, Dana. All of you, really. Wow, I can't believe this." Lu was still overwhelmed. It was the first time someone threw her a party. Everyone could see her eyes sparkling as they congratulated her.  
  
"Okay, attention please! Lu, remember when we sang Happy Birthday in French when Dana turned 39?" Bob asked.  
  
"Yeah, I remember that. Don't know if I remember the words, though." Lu said, slightly confused. "Why?"  
  
"Well, we got ourselves a somewhat.. adapted version for you." Bob replied, with that well known grin of accomplishment on his face. "Everyone ready.." They started singing 'Happy Birthday', but isntead of French it was in Spanish; Cumpleaños Feliz. Lu couldn't help but laugh at their funny accents and the crummy harmony. Yet she realized this must've been the sweetest birthday song ever to be sung for her.  
  
"Okay honey, blow your candles now!" Lana stepped forward with the cake and Lu blew out all the candles, followed by cheers from everyone in the room. "We didn't have enough place for 33 candles, so we used 16. It ain't intended to make you feel younger though," Lana joked. "But at least you got 'em all!"  
  
Through the laughter, suddenly a baby's cry came forward. "Is that who I think it is?" Lu asked.  
  
"I assume you're thinking what I'm thinking," Dana said with a hint of sarcastic humor in her voice. "Marc was so nice to have his room volunteer for the kids. Would you like to get her out of bed?"  
  
"Okay!" Lu replied with a smile as she walked into Marc's room to get Louise.   
  
"Nice timing, Dana," Peter said softly. "Come on guys, hurry!" Talking was reduced to whispering, which added to the excitement. Mickey went into Lu's room, closely followed by Marc, Peter and Nick. They carried a big cage out of there and put it in the middle of the living room.   
  
"What's that, mommy?" Annie asked.   
  
"It's Lu's present, sweetie. You'll see."  
  
"Wow, it sure got quiet in here!" Lu said as she came back into the room with Louise in her arms. It took a while for her to notice the cage standing in the middle of her room. "Whoa, what's that?!" She stood still, as if she were in shock, so sudden.   
  
"Go figure, kid! What do you think it is?" Lana replied.  
  
"You've clearly been out of the birthday business lately, Lu." Andy added. "So.. care to reveal your present?"  
  
Dana took Louise. Lu took off the note from the top and read it aloud. 'His name is Chester' is all it said. Annie carefully approached as Lu unknowingly removed the blanket from the cage. She was the first to see what's inside. "Mommy, mommy, look, it's a dog!"  
  
Lu found herself staring at a little brown labrador puppy slowly waking up inside the cage. "Aww.. guys.." Lu opened the cage for him as he started yawning. "Aww, look at him! He's so sweet.."  
  
"And he's yours, Lu." Peter said.  
  
Lu was simply astonished. "I don't know how to thank you guys."  
  
"How about by starting off with saying thank you?" Lana answered with inevitable logic, which caused everyone to burst out laughing again.  
  
"We provided you with a selection of essential items, which we temporarily stocked in your kitchen." Robert stated. "But first.."  
  
".. time for cake!" Marc interrupted. "Behold the triple layer chocolate volcano!" Marc proudly presented the chocolate cake that Lana was holding earlier.  
  
"Wasn't that the cake from Linda Loren's magazine that I wanted to make for your birthday last year?" Lu said. She didn't notice it before.  
  
"Exactly," Lana replied before Marc could. "But appearantly, Lana's cooking skills gave a better result than yours," she teased.   
  
Andy scraped her throat. Lu grinned. "Am I right when I say Lana's cooking skills were helped along with the cooking skills of a.. let's say, certain former-colonel?"   
  
"Yea--- well.. yeah. But it was my idea!" Lana persisted.  
  
"Whatever - ATTACK!" Everyone cheerfully agreed with Mickey, who carefully started to cut pieces out of the cake. Marc walked into the kitchen and returned with a food bowl for Chester. Everyone was chatting, eating and having fun. Lu sat back and relaxed, enjoying the situation and, of course, her piece of cake. Best birthday party I ever had, she stated in her mind. Ever.  
  
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	5. A Step Back

I do not own the main characters (Lu, Marc, Lana, Peter, Andy, Nick and Robert) in this story, they belong to Lifetime. I also sometimes mix the original storyline with my own.

Chapter 5: A Step Back

* * *

It was a cold winter evening in January. The lights of cars reflected on the wet streets. A few people with umbrella's hurried down the sidewalks. The boring scene was suddenly disturbed by the sound of someone slamming the breaks. A cat ran over the street, right in front of a car. The cat got away. The car drove on. Everything and everyone continued. At least, so it seemed. Another sound emerged around the corner. The sound of an ambulance rushing towards Rittenhouse Hospital's ER.

"Okay, incoming! 18-year-old female, unconscious, head trauma, abdominal trauma, approximately 24 weeks pregnant!"

The loud voice of the paramedic was first replied to by Nick. "There's a spot in the back!" He hurried towards the gurney. "Okay guys, that's one of Lu's. Looks like she's been beaten up pretty bad. Nurse Masters, please page dr. Delgado. Come on guys, let's move it!"

The paramedics followed Nick's instructions and moved the gurney to the spot in the back, while Nick set up an IV.

"Vanessa Stanford!" Lu said loudly as she ran into the ER moments later. She reminded herself of a few months ago when Vanessa came in after falling down the stairs. This time though she found her in worse shape than she expected. "Oh my god, Vanessa.. What happened to her?"

"Subjected to serious abuse if you ask me," Nick said.

"Did anyone come with her?" Lu asked.

Nick shook his head. A paramedic answered the question instead. "Neighbours heard two people heavily arguing and called 911. When we got there, this is what we found."

Lu decided not to try and figure out what happened and who was involved. Instead, she put it off her mind and quickly examined Vanessa. "Okay, I want an CT, an x-ray on her arms and left leg. And get me a monitor here stat, I wanna know how her daughter is doing."

Shortly after that, nurse Masters came up to them with the ultrasound equipment. Lu carefully moved it over Vanessa's bruised stomach. "The baby's heartrate is a little low, but it's good enough for now."

Suddenly the other monitor started beeping. "BP's dropping, she's getting tachy!" Nick stated.

"Okay, get her on oxygen. One amp of epi, see if it'll bring her pressure up. Start a line, give her 150 milligrams lidocaine." Lu quickly responded. The monitor's beep went back to its regular pace, but after a little while it went back to a faster rhythm.

"Get her 10 milligrams adenosine, I.V. push!" Lu attempted. And this attempt seemed to work. Vanessa's heart rate and BP went back to normal. "Okay guys, call the OR, let 'em know we're coming."

* * *

'I'll be home at 8, so we can just eat and go to the movies at 9', she told him this morning. Marc sat on the couch, watching TV, wondering where his mom was. By now, it was 8.15, and he was sure they wouldn't make it in time anymore. He picked up the TV guide to see if there was anything interesting on, when suddenly the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Marc," Lu replied to her son.

"Oh hey mom. Where are you? We're never gonna make it in time to the"

Lu interrupted her son, aware of the time. "I know, I'm late. A patient of mine came in the ER today, she got beaten up. I was about to go home when they paged me that she just woke up."

"Right. And?" Marc knew she had to check her out, but he wondered if it'd take all night.

Lu grinned. "So, right now I have to talk to her, ask her what happened, and then I can go home, okay? That way we can still catch the 10 o'clock. So basically it doesn't even matter, right? We'll just move the plans an hour ahead," she assured her son.

"Okay." Marc sighed. He hated it when his mom was going to be late. However, he was relieved that she was still coming. She promised to take him to the movies.

"I'll see you later then. Bye honey."

"Bye"

Lu put down the phone. Could've been worse, she thought to herself. She hated it when she was going to be late. However, she was relieved it wouldn't be too late for the movies.

She picked up Vanessa's chart, took the elevator to the second floor and made her way to her room to talk to her. She entered with a soft knock on the door. Vanessa looked up. The left side of her face was black and blue.

"Hey Vanessa," Lu said.

"Hi Lu." Vanessa said in a weak voice, but with a question that desperately needed an answer. "My baby, is she.."

"She's just fine. No permanent damage." Lu assured. "How are you feeling?" She sat down.

Vanessa sighed. "Tired. It hurts all over.."

"I'll have the nurse give you something for the pain," Lu said. "I gotta ask you something though.. how did it happen?" Lu carefully asked. Deja-vu. She asked that when Vanessa came in after falling off the stairs. She wondered if that question should have gotten the same answer as she expected now: Zach, that's how. It wouldn't be her first case of domestic violence.

Vanessa, however, remained silent.

"You have to tell me."

_"I can't!" Vanessa said. She could hardly hold back the tears coming up. How could he ask this of her? How could he blame her for being pregnant with their daughter? She thought he was there for her. Now he wants her to have an abortion?_

_The look on Zach's face went from worried to determined. A wave of anger visibly took over. "You're going to," he said, his voice lowered. "I'm telling you."_

_"No, I can't do that," Vanessa said softly. She took a deep breath in attempt not to cry. "No!"_

She turned her head away. "That's when he struck me," she told Lu. "I got dizzy and hit the floor."

"But not the only time, was it?" Lu said, hoping for the rest of the story. She knew Vanessa's injuries were too severe for just one strike.

_"No..." Vanessa said. She crawled away from him as she felt the strength pouring out of her. She knew that every step brought Zach closer to her. She wasn't fast enough._

_"Stand up!" Zach yelled at her._

_Vanessa pushed herself up from the ground, but lost her balance and nearly fell to the floor again. Zach however, grabbed her arms and pulled her up and against him. All Vanessa could think is how to get away from him. She wrestled in his arms, tried to pull herself out of his grip as she felt it tighten up. He kept going until his strength started hurting her, and beyond._

_"Are you gonna calm down?" Zach's voice echoed loudly in her ears. "Huh? Are you!" he yelled._

_Vanessa didn't know anymore. The only option left for her was to give in. She held still. Zach was so close to her that she could feel his breath in her neck. He lowered his voice to a whisper._

_"You are not going to keep this baby."_

_The sharp pain that his fist suddenly caused in her stomach brought up a wave of nausea. She felt everything spinning inside herself and closed her eyes before falling to the ground._

* * *

PS Just in case, I wanted to add something about the medical terms & all that in here.. it isn't real, I sorta made up the numbers and picked the drugs that seemed right. I try to pay attention as much as I can, and pick up parts of what I hear, and combine what I know. So if you know the real works and you notice it doesn't make sense.. oh well. If it does, I probably payed a lot of attention..


	6. Double Surprise

I do not own the main characters (Lu, Marc, Lana, Peter, Andy, Nick and Robert) in this story, they belong to Lifetime. I also sometimes mix the original storyline with my own.

Chapter 6: Double Surprise

* * *

Marc opened the door for Mickey. The tall latino entered and looked around. For some reason he always did that. He knew the apartment from the inside, he knew what it looked like and what was where. But he could never resist to quickly skim across the room, just seeing what it looked like and what was where again. Whether it had any purpose.. even Mickey didn't know.

"So, how are you doin', kid?" he asked Marc.

Always the first question to be asked, so it seems. "Fine," he answered. He couldn't help but notice that almost everyone says something positive in response to that question. Even when in reality it's not, when 'fine' simply is a little automatic lie hiding true feelings within from others. There's not much meaning left for the question itself. Though nobody ceases to ask. "You?"

"Well.." Mickey started as he sat down on the couch, "I, personally, am sick and tired of waiting for your mom all the time!" he joked, and turned to Marc. "Can't believe you still put up with that."

"As long as she doesn't insist on cooking for me by the time she gets home."

Their laughter was interrupted by a knock on the door. Marc went to open it.

"Hey, what's all the laughing for?" The sarcastic tone in the female voice was clearly present.

"Nothing special," Marc responded to his girlfriend. He noticed a short but awkward silence and realized that Nat and Mickey never met before. "Nat.. this is Miguel, a.k.a. Mickey. Mickey, Natalie."

Mickey stood up. "Nice to meet you."

Natalie smiled and shook his hand. She knew she appeared shy, especially when meeting someone who is a friend of the person she's with, but a stranger to her. Which, obviously, was the case here. A smile was the only way for her in attempt to cover that.

"Anyone fancy a drink?" Marc asked.

"I'd like some coke." Mickey said.

"Seems like I'm the only person who absolutely doesn't like that stuff." Natalie mentioned. "I'll have some water. Need help?"

Marc grinned. "Sure," he said. He didn't really mean it, but to him there was no reason not to be near her when possible. He walked towards the kitchen, closely followed by Natalie. Meanwhile, they heard a key open the door and Lu coming in.

"Mickey? What are you doing here?"

"What, you don't like it?" he teased.

Lu rolled her eyes. "I mean, hey, what a pleasant surprise," she teased back. And not the only one, Mickey thought. Lu took her coat off and sat down next to him.

"Want something to drink mom?" Marc's voice sounded from the kitchen.

"No thanks honey, just had a soda," she replied to her son.

"Right." Marc returned from the kitchen with two cokes. He handed one to Mickey and sat down. Natalie followed with a glass of water and sat down on a chair next to Marc.

"Nat?" Lu reacted surprised to seeing her. After all, she expected seeing neither Mickey nor Natalie. She expected to just catch a 10 o'clock with her son.

"Hi Lu." Natalie said. She didn't know what exactly was going on either.

"Marc?" Lu waited for an explanation.

Mickey saw the confusion rising. "Shall we just spill the beans then, Marc?" he suggested.

"Yeah, why not? They'd find out sooner or later." Marc said to Mickey, almost as if Lu and Nat weren't there. "I mean, the woman with the biggest mouth in the neighborhood combined with the smartest girl in class.. can't keep secrets from them too long, can we?"

Lu and Nat looked at each other. Nat poked Marc in his side.

"Hey, okay, okay, I'll quit it," he quickly responded. "Let's just say.. we're not exactly going to the movies."

"That I figured out by now," Lu said with a hint of irony in her voice.

"We're taking you out on a date." Mickey said in addition. "Marc and Nat, you and I.. same place we went to on our double date with Anna and.. Joey." He shrugged as he remembered when Lu told him that his best friend didn't make it. Mickey did him a favor the night it happened, he traded with him because Joey hated being chauffeur. But when Joey went in with the guys, the building collapsed.

At the same time Lu remembered seeing all the firemen in the ER, seeing Anna coming in, seeing Joey dead.. not seeing Mickey until more than a day later, being worried to death. Then she had to give him that bad news.. a chill went down her spine. She quickly tucked the memory away in the back of her mind as she felt Mickey's hands taking hers.

"Can we go now, before we die of starvation?" Marc joked to break the silence.

_

* * *

"I moved in with my parents," Vanessa mentioned, pulling her shirt down after an ultrasound._

_"And Zach?" Lu wondered._

_"I.. I haven't seen him since.." Vanessa turned her head away as she felt emotions rising. "You know. It's been a month."_

_Lu nodded. "Did you report him to the police, Vanessa?"_

_"No." _

_Lu stood up. She knew she couldn't force Vanessa to press charges. She knew how hard it was to be expecting a child alone as young as she was. This must have been more than Vanessa could handle. _

_She tried to satisfy her thoughts with the fact that she would at least be safer in her parents house. Without Zach. Thinking that should be good enough for now didn't take away the worries - neither for Lu, nor for Vanessa. Lu realized she heard a soft cry starting. She put her hands on Vanessa's shoulders to try and comfort her. Vanessa turned her head back to Lu, her eyes drowning in tears._

_"I'm scared, Lu."_

_"I know." Lu sighed as images from her past floated through her mind. "I know."_

Lu took another bite of her food and tried to stop thinking of what happened at work that day.

"This stuff is good!" Marc said with his mouth full.

"I know!" Mickey responded.

"Doesn't look half as good in your open mouth, Marc." Lu teased. She could spend years trying to teach him some table manners – she did, actually – but nothing seemed to do the trick.

"Told you the Mexican food here is delicious," Mickey reminded him.

"You don't have to tell me that, I'll take Mexican anywhere." Marc replied.

"Besides at home." Mickey added, to which Lu reacted with a combination of a deeply offended and an I'm-about-to-burst-out-laughing face. They could never stop teasing her about her cooking skills. Which, according to Marc, were nonexistent.

"This burrito is nice too. At home we eat them too sometimes. We'll have a table full different kinds of beans, meat, salad, sauces and stuff like that, and we fill them with whatever we like." Natalie explained. "I like it. It's really like a family party every time we do that."

"Sounds like something worth trying," Lu said. "At least everyone would be responsible for their own food."

"Yeah, so we won't be at risk for food poisoning." Marc joked.

Just as Lu was preparing to outsmart him, a beep sounded from her bag. "Why does that always happen when I'm on a date in here?" she said out of frustration as she grabbed her pager. At the double date with Anna and Joey she got paged also. "A patient of mine is on her way to the ER, I have to go," she stated as she stood up and grabbed her coat. "Don't expect me back here.. it won't be worth it, I'll just go home when I'm done there. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's okay." Mickey assured her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Have fun for me, okay?" Lu said to him. Mickey nodded with a smile and watched her leave.

Not long after that, Lu arrived at Rittenhouse ER. She skimmed across the beds in attempt to find out who needed her. "Who paged me?" she yelled to make her presence known.

"Over here!"

Lu recognized Nick's voice and hurried towards him. To her surprise she found Vanessa on the gurney. "What's going on?"

* * *

Please review! I love feedback! 


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